Risk management: UK, Taiwan and S Korea

Bulletin 123 | Gordon Woo

In this Bulletin, Gordon Woo compares the risk management approaches of UK, Taiwan and South Korea. Improvement in risk management can come from comparison with those who have been especially successful at risk mitigation. Comparison with others less successful may lead to a false sense of complacency.

A global pandemic is the ultimate societal risk. Every individual has to forego some personal freedom for the sake of collective public health. The Taiwanese and South Korean governments have been amongst the most successful to contain COVID-19. A comparison is made between UK, Taiwanese and South Korean risk management approaches to identify the scope for future enhancements to UK public health policy, particularly in dealing with more lethal pathogens.